The evolution of Australian enterprises, 1990 to 2007 : An empirical analysis of the relationship between turbulence among firms, productivity, growth and exports. This project will examine determinants and effects of enterprise entry and exit on growth, export and productivity in Australian industry using innovative panel enterprise data sets which have been collated and linked from existing ABS surveys, administrative data and accounting data. Currently, there is only one short longitudinal en ....The evolution of Australian enterprises, 1990 to 2007 : An empirical analysis of the relationship between turbulence among firms, productivity, growth and exports. This project will examine determinants and effects of enterprise entry and exit on growth, export and productivity in Australian industry using innovative panel enterprise data sets which have been collated and linked from existing ABS surveys, administrative data and accounting data. Currently, there is only one short longitudinal enterprise data set in Australia. Further data sets are required if policy makers are to understand patterns and causes of growth and business survival in Australia. Understanding provided from these studies should significantly improve our undertanding of how businesses perform.Read moreRead less
Job retention and advancement of disadvantaged job-seekers. This project will use empirical methods to help determine what is necessary for job retainment and career advancement of disadvantaged jobseekers. Job retainment and advancement are essential to prolonged workforce participation and the development of human capital of disadvantaged jobseekers re-entering the workforce. Understanding and supporting the drivers of workforce participation is identified as a National Research Priority. Ther ....Job retention and advancement of disadvantaged job-seekers. This project will use empirical methods to help determine what is necessary for job retainment and career advancement of disadvantaged jobseekers. Job retainment and advancement are essential to prolonged workforce participation and the development of human capital of disadvantaged jobseekers re-entering the workforce. Understanding and supporting the drivers of workforce participation is identified as a National Research Priority. Therefore, the project findings will be of considerable importance to employment policy development in Australia to help ensure that future policy developments improve the human capital of disadvantaged entrants to the labour market and alleviate longer-term poverty and social exclusion. Read moreRead less
Measuring Hospital Performance: Outputs, Quality of Care, Competition and Efficiency. Hospitals are a critical component of the health infrastructure. An understanding of the performance of hospitals is important in shaping an overall health care strategy. Unfortunately, assessing hospital performance has been fraught with difficulties. A major obstacle is in defining and measuring the outputs and quality of hospitals. Collaborating with the Victorian Department of Human Services, and using t ....Measuring Hospital Performance: Outputs, Quality of Care, Competition and Efficiency. Hospitals are a critical component of the health infrastructure. An understanding of the performance of hospitals is important in shaping an overall health care strategy. Unfortunately, assessing hospital performance has been fraught with difficulties. A major obstacle is in defining and measuring the outputs and quality of hospitals. Collaborating with the Victorian Department of Human Services, and using the Department's VAED datasets, we aim to develop a framework within which unobservable quality dimensions can be estimated, so that hospital output and quality can be accounted for. The framework will be useful for addressing pertinent health policy issues, including hospital funding, specialisation, and competition issues.Read moreRead less
Technology Transforming Markets: Large-Scale Field Experiments in Electricity Use. Advances in information technology are transforming electricity markets. Victoria is rolling out ‘smart’ meters, which record half-hourly consumption data. Some retailers also provide web portals that facilitate customer access to this information. Together with an innovative start-up company, this project aims to use large-scale field experiments to evaluate the impact of these technologies on how consumers: use ....Technology Transforming Markets: Large-Scale Field Experiments in Electricity Use. Advances in information technology are transforming electricity markets. Victoria is rolling out ‘smart’ meters, which record half-hourly consumption data. Some retailers also provide web portals that facilitate customer access to this information. Together with an innovative start-up company, this project aims to use large-scale field experiments to evaluate the impact of these technologies on how consumers: use electricity; opt for new pricing plans; and switch retailers. The aims have important implications for environmental policies designed to conserve energy, for consumer choice and welfare, and for retail market competitiveness.Read moreRead less
Privacy-preserving cloud data mining-as-a-service. This project aims to explore practical privacy-preserving solutions for cloud data mining-as-a-service based on the Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology. The research addresses privacy concerns of users when outsourcing data mining needs to the cloud. These concerns have increased as more businesses evaluate data mining-as-an outsourced service due to lack of expertise or computation resources. The expected outcomes from the research ....Privacy-preserving cloud data mining-as-a-service. This project aims to explore practical privacy-preserving solutions for cloud data mining-as-a-service based on the Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology. The research addresses privacy concerns of users when outsourcing data mining needs to the cloud. These concerns have increased as more businesses evaluate data mining-as-an outsourced service due to lack of expertise or computation resources. The expected outcomes from the research will include new data privacy models, new privacy-preserving data mining algorithms, and a prototype of cloud data mining software. These will help businesses cut costs for data mining and privacy protection, and provide significant benefits toward helping Australia achieve its national cyber security strategy and potentially provide economic impact from commercialisation of new software technology for the industry partner.Read moreRead less
Analysis and classification of malicious code. Malicious software such as viruses and worms directly attacks the security, privacy and integrity of Australian e-commerce, large databases and communication channels. The recent uptake of malicious software by organised crime has made finding effective countermeasures more urgent. Around 80% of the malicious code in circulation is disguised in some way. This significantly increases the difficulty of automated detection and delays analysis. Automate ....Analysis and classification of malicious code. Malicious software such as viruses and worms directly attacks the security, privacy and integrity of Australian e-commerce, large databases and communication channels. The recent uptake of malicious software by organised crime has made finding effective countermeasures more urgent. Around 80% of the malicious code in circulation is disguised in some way. This significantly increases the difficulty of automated detection and delays analysis. Automated classification and de-obfuscation technologies are a precondition to applying more sophisticated detection heuristics. The project will be instrumental in safeguarding Australia by protecting critical infrastructure and defending us from online organised crime and information warfare.Read moreRead less
Practical unified framework for secure e-consent mechanism for health records. This project is driven by modern applications of cryptography and network security and their applications in securing e-health by enabling secure Personal Health Records (PHRs), which will play an important role in the future healthcare industry.
Models for Australian Electricity Derivatives. Electricity derivatives, such as electricity futures and options are used to manage the risk associated with volatility in prices of electricity. This project aims to develop models for pricing electricity derivatives specifically suited for Australia. Because of the non-storable nature of electricity the standard option pricing principle of "no-arbitrage" does not apply to electricity options, such as caps and floors, but applies to options on elec ....Models for Australian Electricity Derivatives. Electricity derivatives, such as electricity futures and options are used to manage the risk associated with volatility in prices of electricity. This project aims to develop models for pricing electricity derivatives specifically suited for Australia. Because of the non-storable nature of electricity the standard option pricing principle of "no-arbitrage" does not apply to electricity options, such as caps and floors, but applies to options on electricity futures. Therefore a specific model is needed that takes into account the pricing principle of "no-arbitrage" and combines it with other factors that drive electricity prices. The novel element in this proposal is incorporation of the weather forecasts into the models for electricity options. As a result of this study appropriate models for electricity derivatives for various geographical regions in Australia will be developed.Read moreRead less
A new spectrum access technology for future wireless terminals. This project will develop a new frequency flexible wireless transceiver structure for the next generation of smartphones and wireless devices. The project will improve the roaming experience of travellers and reduce the cost of wireless connectivity, enabling new applications such as machine-to-machine communications and the internet-of-things.
Tools and models for measuring and predicting growth in internet addressing and routing complexity. We analyse patterns in the allocation and actual use of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses to predict the technical and market pressures for deployment of IPv6. The utilisation models will help evaluate the potential for emerging markets in scarce IPv4 address prefixes to increase costs to the end-users of Australia's future national broadband network.